Walk in the Park
by Green Monkie
Summary: Two Xmen have a talk about their lives, while walking in the Park Rogue/Jamie Friendship... r/r


The small boy standing in the middle of the park seemed to know that the girl was looking at him. Seemed to know she was there. But then, she didn't care. That's why she was here, to get his attention. talk to him.  
  
He slowly tuned to face her direction, and she stepped out of the shadow of the large oak beside her. Even though he was a good twenty meters away, she could still see his great big sad eyes. She had always had a small (secret) fascination with his eyes. She never really got over the fact that they were actually Sky Blue and Sea Blue at the same time, a strange mix, yet a beautiful and striking mix all the same. They created such calmness over her; a sense of peacefulness always overcame her. Peacefulness these eyes emitted, so very unlike him.  
  
She walked over to him. HE smiled sadly up at her. She smiled back. It wasn't often that she smiled. To anything. or anyone, but he was one of the few exceptions. He was one of the lucky ones who had actually heard her laugh.  
  
"Hey," she said softly. "Watcha doin' out here, all by your lonesome?"  
  
He shrugged, and looked over at the play centre, not far from where they were standing.  
  
"Just to think," He said finally, still looking at the wistfully at some kids, not much younger than himself, who were chasing each other around the slide.  
  
"You miss it don't you," She said, her eyes following his gaze to the two children. "Bein' a normal kid that is,"  
  
He nodded sadly, not taking his eyes off the two children.  
  
"Yeah, Ah do too," She said softly.  
  
They stood there in silence for a little while until the boy said "Who was it that sent you after me?" He said softly but clearly, looking up at her with his big blue eyes, which were beginning to glaze over.  
  
She shook her head. "Nope, Ah came here by myself. Ah know what it's lahke to be in this situation, and Ah know that the best thing is to talk about it."  
  
"Yeah, but why did you follow me, I'm just Jamie, the little mutant that is only here because he has to be." He sad dejectedly, looking down at the ground. He then bent down and picked a wild daisy from the ground.  
  
Her eyes flashed with anger, but he didn't see it, as he was too distracted looking at the daisy he had in his hand. "Has anyone ever told you that you weren't wanted here? If so Ah'll give em a real stern talking to, then Ah'll tell Logan and Ah'll let him have a private danger room session with the person involved."  
  
He shook his head, "No one. They don't have to, I can see it in their eyes when I walk up to them: 'Oh no, look here comes the walking crowd Jamie, he's going to ruin everything again' The only people who don't do that when I walk up to them are you and Storm, and a few of the other adults."  
  
He began to pluck the petals one by one off the flower, and watched them float gently to the ground.  
  
"Nobody thinks that," She said softly.  
  
"Don't kid yourself Rogue, everybody thinks that. I'm only here because I nobody wants me, and nobody wants me here either." He sighed. "I can't win,"  
  
"That's not true. Ah want you here. The Professor wants you here. Ah think he genuinely wants to help you," Then she added as an after thought, "And meh"  
  
"But he hasn't helped us yet. I mean, I get bumped in an elevator, and it's fully packed in less than a second. I go to Xavier's school for the gifted? Great gift I have! 'Instant crowd! Just one punch and the room will be filled with numerous identically annoying Clones!'"  
  
"Ah could say the same sort of thing you know, what with the inability to touch and all. But now that Ah've met the Prof. He seems so dead set on helping meh with my powers and Ah know he feels the same way about you and the rest of the teachers as well.  
  
"Someday, hopefully Ah'll be ably to touch again, and someday you'll be able to get bumped again."  
  
Jamie didn't say anything, just stared down at the grass where all the petals were now lying.  
  
"Ah know how hard it is. You've been robbed of your childhood. The only time in your whole life where you can really let your hair down and do it everyday. That is something that shouldn't happen to anybody. Right now, you should be over there with those kids playing Tag." She pointed at the two kids who were now rolling around in the dirt next to each other, "But then you aren't are you sugah?" She paused then continued "Why is that?"  
  
"Cos I'm a mutant, and if one of them knocks too hard, they'll be seeing double, or triple, or-well you get the drift." He said, but she shook her head.  
  
"No that excuse doesn't work on meh. Ah've used it before. Do those kids over there know you are a mutant?"  
  
He shook his head, "No, but if they found out, they wouldn't want to play anymore."  
  
"Don't jump to the conclusion that all the people are mutant haters. Some that believe the rights of mutants are the same as the rest of them. There are some decent people out there in this world. And children are the least biased of them all. Ever heard of the saying 'Innocent as babes'?"  
  
"I haven't met any yet."  
  
"Yes you have, Kurt's friend Amanda, she knows we're all mutants, but she doesn't care. She thinks that it's cool." Rogue walked over to a nearby park bench. "And there are people who donate money to the mansion. The Professor is loaded sure... but not loaded enough to rebuild the whole mansion as much as it needs to."  
  
Jamie sat down next to her. He looked up at her. "How did you discover your 'gift'?" He said softly.  
  
Rogue tensed up slightly. "Ah was at the school dance and a guy asked meh to dance. When we were up there dancing someone accidentally knocked meh over, and when Cody, the guy Ah was dancing with, grabbed mah wrist to help meh up, He got some bare skin and Ah drained him."  
  
Jamie nodded silently and let her continue.  
  
"After that, Ah sorta panicked when Ah was thinking like him, and Ah tackled a guy that tried to stop meh from running out of there. Then the whole X-men Mystique recruitment thing happened." She said the last bit with a touch of anger in her voice, but she took a deep breath at the end and calmed down. "What about you?"  
  
Jamie looked down at his feet again.  
  
"We were playing dodge ball, and those really mean bully pegged the ball real hard and got me on the back. Then out popped all the other Jamies. The whole class started screaming and pointing at me. The teacher called my parents. When I got home, I saw my parents standing in the doorway holding a bag. They told me they weren't going to be the parents of a 'freak kid' and kicked me out.  
  
"I was out on the streets for about a week before the Professor and Ororo found me. I'd been sleeping in the Church, there was a really nice priest there who found me and gave me meals occasionally."  
  
Rogue nodded, the whole time Jamie had been telling her his story, little tears had began to fall down his face. It was a heartbreaking scene. She put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a hug.  
  
"It's ok, It's in the past now," Jamie continued to cry into her shoulder. She gently patted his back. "Shh. It's ok now, let it all out."  
  
He mumbled something into her shirt.  
  
"Ah couldn't hear you sugah, say it again." She said gently, releasing him from the hug.  
  
He sat up, wiping his bloodshot eyes with his sleeve. "Thankyou for listening."  
  
"Anytime Sugah," She smiled and glanced back up at the playground, "Hey, wanna go play on those swings, haven't done that since I was your age."  
  
He laughed and nodded. "Race ya!" He yelled jumping up and running towards the swings.  
  
She laughed and ran after him. She caught up eventually, chasing him and tackling him gently to the ground, careful not to knock him too hard.  
  
"Hey when we get home, how about we teach those other guys a thing or too about who you really are Jamie." Rogue suggested as she helped him up and walked over to the swings.  
  
"Yeah sure. How?" He asked sitting down on the first swing. Rogue stood behind him and pushed him off.  
  
"Two words sugah. Water bombs."  
  
***  
  
A/N Yeah well, I think that is one of my sweeter fics. Not as depressing as some, but still has that degree of angst that I can never seem to kick in my fics. I'll try and make it a bit more light-hearted than this next time I promise. I wrote this cos I've had a sort of obsession with Jamie lately, mainly cos I feel sorry for him, so yeah. Tell me what you think in the little box thing at the bottom. 


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